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CEO Letter

Making Our Impact Count

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For over 200 years Bunge has been playing a remarkable role in global agribusiness, cultivating strong relationships with the communities where we operate and engaging with our stakeholders to safely deliver harvests to markets. As trends evolve, we remain firm in our general sustainability commitment to act responsibly, to conserve natural resources, and to engage with our value chain. We want to enhance lives on a global scale, but with local insight.

Bunge’s sustainability vision is reflected in our general business strategy and operations. From our industry-leading environmental commitments, to our robust corporate governance, we aim to build 21st century value chains that are transparent, verifiable, and create positive impacts on the ground.

Our sustainability commitment places us alongside the broader global community as we seek to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The goals that are most material to us serve as our north star, while our ACE platform ethos can serve as our engine for progress in the fields we operate.

Act: Lead even when the path is not clearly marked

Like all industries, agriculture is intricately linked with significant sustainability challenges facing the world today. Studies show it accounts for nearly 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while being at risk from rapid changes in climate. Almost a quarter of the world’s population work in agriculture, offering a vital economic opportunity to many, but some of whom can be exposed to human rights issues. Growth in food production is helping to feed the world and provide nutrition to billions, but unsustainable agriculture and land use change can threaten delicate ecosystems.

In the markets we serve and in the communities we operate, Bunge is dedicated to being a responsible and engaged driver of progress. That is why we have established ambitious commitments on topics like deforestation and emissions, quite relevant for the agricultural sector but still challenging to tackle, as we transparently detail in dedicated sections of this web report.

Also, we are for the first time presenting our approach for Scope 3 emissions, based on a comprehensive assessment of our large agricultural value chain. When so few companies are disclosing their Scope 3 data, we are proud of our ability to be transparent and to aim for impact.

Conserve: Find innovative ways to reduce our footprint

As a global leader in the world’s agriculture system, we are aware of our role as responsible stewards of the planet. Since 2008 Bunge has been improving our environmental performance by reducing our footprint throughout our operations with public goals and, since 2016, our targets aim for a 10-year plan to significantly reduce emissions, waste, energy and water use. We are on track to accomplish these goals, as presented in the pages of this report.

We are building more transparent and impactful supply chains, with a view to eliminate deforestation between 2020-2025. We regularly disclose traceability information and monitoring data for our key commodities – every quarter for palm oil, and at least twice a year for soy. We believe these industry-leading commitments enhance our relationships with our stakeholders and increase the value of our brand.

Engage: Collaborate with peers and stakeholders

We are making good progress, but much will depend on finding industry-wide solutions and scalable projects that create lasting impact. Bunge has been a driver of collaboration, and an active participant on global platforms. Our memberships include sector forums like the Cerrado Working Group, Soft Commodities Forum, Round Table on Responsible Soy, and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, as well as global sustainability initiatives like the United Nations Global Compact and World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Additionally, we work with NGOs and community organizations to address other sustainability goals. Last year we initiated a first-of-its-kind partnership with the The Nature Conservancy and Santander Bank to provide $50 million in financing to farmers in Brazil who commit to develop without conversion of native vegetation. By developing creative partnerships like this, we can have a game-changing role in sustainable agriculture expansion that benefits farmers while preserving the environment.

Commitment from top to bottom

Our sustainability vision is built on a foundation of strong corporate governance. Since 2014, the Sustainability & Corporate Responsibility Committee of our Board has overseen all policies, strategies and programs, including performance goals, regular climate-related risk management, and disclosure. Sustainability is also led from the executive level, and carried throughout many of our business units and operations.

All of this is underpinned by our commitment to transparency. The information contained on our website follows GRI Standards, core option. Bunge also responds to leading ratings bodies like CDP and issues regional reports as well. It is our belief that Bunge is an industry leader when it comes to ambitious goals and a transparent approach to disclosure.

I encourage you to read through our sustainability pages and learn more about the work being done by our more than 30,000 colleagues across 40 countries.

Thank you for visiting our sustainability pages and helping us to shape a better value chain.